Internet traffic is now being redirected via the United States. And while data moves fast, that’s a lot further to go. So that means slower-loading web pages, slower communications, slower streaming.

And, most importantly, slower access to business data and apps stored in overseas data centres.

The same thing could happen here.

New Zealand’s overseas internet traffic depends on just two underwater cables

Underwater cables are based on century-old tech. Here’s the Bondi-Auckland cable being laid in 1912.

It’s not something we think about often, but all of New Zealand’s overseas internet traffic comes via cables like those as well. And in our case, it’s just two: the Tasman 2 Cable to Australia, and the Southern Cross Cable to the United States and Australia.

Thousands and thousands of gigabytes every hour, every day. Over just two cables. One of which was laid before the invention of the first real web browser and at the debut of Windows 3.1.

Just two cables. That doesn’t allow much room for error. By contrast, the west coast of the United States alone is serviced by 14.

And what does that mean for you? Well, if your business relies on links to overseas data centres – say, for your files, or your critical apps – then if anything happens to those cables, you could find it hard to operate.

That’s why for those purposes, it’s best to keep your files and your apps right here in New Zealand. There’s much greater redundancy if anything goes wrong with a connection.

Our cloud services are NZ-based – so we don’t rely on those cables

Our cloud services don’t need those two cables, because our data centres are both right here in New Zealand: in Auckland and Christchurch. Both are highly secure. Both have multiple internet connections and backup power.